Device for smokers&#39; pipes



Jan. 19, 1943.

E. J. JACOB- DEVICE FOR SMOKERS PIPES Filed June 2, 1941 INVENTOR. 525/054 J. dA 5.

I remark apply, for example, to glass.

Patented Jan. 19, 1943 DEVICE FOR SMOKERS PIPES Ezekiel J. Jacob, New York, N. Y., assignor to Benjamin Liebowitz, New York, N. .Y.

Application June 2, 1941, Serial No. 396,254

7 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for smokers pipes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for smokerspipes by which condensible vapors, formed during smoking, are trapped and dissipated in the pipe bowl.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved pipe in which'tobacco and other undesirable solidparticles are excluded from the smoke stream.

A further object of the invention consists in a device which is adapted to absorb condensate at the bottom of the pipe bowl, to draw up by means of capillary action this condensate to the combustion region, and to expose it there to the temperature of burning tobacco.

In order to attain these objects this invention provides a device comprising a string-shaped heat resistant absorbent member adapted to lie in the I pipe bowl in the longitudinal direction thereof.

In a preferred embodiment this absorbent member consists of a flexible absorbent string comprising heat resistant fine filaments.

The expression heat resistant" as used throughout this specification means having the ability to withstand the temperature encountered in the bowl of the pipe due to the burning tobacco therein without undergoing any substantial phys ical or chemical change.

Another word frequently used in this specification and claims whose meaning should be clarified is absorbent. Materials which are ordinarily classed as absorbent owe this property to their physical structure and not to the nature of the material per se. For example, consider a sheet of cellulose acetate. Such a sheet would not be classed as absorbent and its actual absorptivity is very low. Nevertheless, when this ma terial i drawn into exceedingly fine filaments, and when these filaments are spun into yarns, and these yarns subsequently woven or knitted into a fabric, the resulting fabric is definitely classifiable as absorbent. Precisely the same In either case the material in the form of a fabric has a vastly greater capacity for absorbing liquids than in the form of a sheet. The reason for this is a well-known one, associated with the words capillary action. In general, any aggregate of material in highly divided form, that is, having a large surface per unit of mass, would be classed as absorbent toward any liquid which wets it.

Glass filaments are especially well adapted for the purpose of this invention. Glass is heat resistant in the sense herein defined and can be readily drawn into extremely fine filaments. As an example of a specific embodiment, yarns which are very satisfactory for the present purposes may be made by twisting together approximatcly 100 glass filaments, each of which has a diameter of the order of magnitude of a few tenthousandth of an inch; a number, e. g. six, of

the resulting yarns may be plied or twisted together to form the final yarn of which the desired string may be made. In the making of these yarns a low twist is preferred because it is conducive to a higher degree of absorptivity.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the accompany diagrammatic drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a cross-section of a pipe equipped with a specific embodiment of the new absorbing device;

Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views showing modifications of the absorbing device.

Referring to the drawing: I2 is the bowl of a pipe I U which may be of any convenient or usual structure; I4 is a flexible absorbent string. The shape of the absorbent string I4 is capable of wide variations, but for practical purposes it should be sufliciently long so that it can, at least, extend from the combustion zone of the pipe bowl to the bottom thereof. A minimum length of one and a half inches is sufficient on the average. The efficiency of the absorbent string is, however, increased if the length of the string I4 i slightly greater than the minimum length mentioned.

above because the greater length makes it possible for a considerable amount of said string to lie on the bottom 20 of the pipe bowl I2; this accumulation of string material aids the absorption of condensates at the bottom of the bowl, and further serves to block the egress of tobacco particles from the bowl of the pipe into the shank and mouth piece thereof.

String I4 may be twisted or woven or knitted, preferably knitted, of the glass yarns described above; it may be circular or flat in shape, and tubular and hollow or solid in form. Its diameter should not be so great as to interfere with the tobacco capacity of the pipe bowl. In case of a solid string with circular cross-section, for instance, a diameter of one-sixteenth to a quarter of an inch is sufiicient.

The retaining member I6 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 consists of a clamping part I8 for string I4 and a bent part I9 engaging rim I5 of the pipe bowl. This retaining member may be made. out of any non-combustible material, such as metals, or noncombustible plastic materials, as glass or the like.

A modification of the retaining member is shown in Fig. 3. In this embodiment the retaining member consists of wire, shaped so as to form a retaining part 24 which rests on the rim I5 of the pipe bowl, and a clamping part 26 which is curved so as to fasten around the upper end I! of string M.

In order to increase the absorptivity of string [4 it is advantageous to have a light deposit thereon or carbon particles. This end may be achieved, and simultaneously another end achieved by baking the absorbent strings at a temperature of approximately 400to 650 de rees Fahrenheit for, say, approximately .30 minutes. It will be understood that all yarns, including the glass yarns herein described, are generally treated with sizing material comprising oils, waxes, starch,

etc., to secure better properties for the various manufacturing operations; These sizing materials in the finished absorbent strings are objectionable because they give -a noticeable taste during the first smokes. By the above baking .operation,-however, the oils, etc. are broken down, and in being bro-ken down they leave the desired carbon residue. In this way the objectionable initial taste is eliminated, and an improved capillary action isobtained; A smokers pipe'equipped with one of these baked absorbent strings smokes satisfactorily; without appreciable extraneous odors or-tastes, from the very beginning.

The absorbent strings, made and-treated in the manner proposed by me, have the characteristic property of oapillarity. By virtue of this property tarry liquids, which tend to accumulate at the bottom, are absorbed by the coiled portion 23 of string 14 and. are sucked up into the combustion region by capillary action; in this high temperature region the liquids are destroyed by the heat to which they are. exposed and leave behind a slowly accumulating carbon residue which, as

mentioned earlier, helps rather than hinders the operation of the device.

. The specific embodiments shown are merely illustrative.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In associationwith a pipe, an absorbing device including a string comprising fine glass filaments adapted to lie in the pipe bowl in longitudinal direction thereof.

2. In association with a pipe, an absorbing device comprising a knitted string adapted to lie in the pipe bowl in longitudinal direction thereof, said string comprising yarns of heat resistant fine filaments.

3. In association with a pipe, an absorbing device including a string comprising fine heat resistant filaments, said string adapted to lie in the pipe bowl extending from the bottom to the combustion region thereof.

4. In association with a pipe, an absorbing device including a string comprising fine heat resistant filaments, said string adapted to lie in the pipe bowl, extending from the top to the bottom thereof and having a length greater than the distance from said top to said bottom, thus lying with one end coiled on said. bowl bottom when inserted into said pipe bowl with its otherend reaching to thetopof the same. r A

5. A device for smokers pipes consisting-of a string comprising heat resistant. fine filaments, and a rigid attaching member securedtooneend of saidstring and adapted to be detachably attached to the rim of said pipe bowl holding thereby one. string end near said rim.

6. A smokers pipe comprising in combination" a pipe bowl and a string-shaped heat resistant fluid-absorbing member, one end of said-stringshapedmember attached to the rim-of th pipe bowl and thusheld nearthis rim, while the other end of said string-shaped member extendstothe bottom of the pipe bowl.

'7. A device for smokers pipes consisting of a string comprising heat resistant finefilaments, and means to be attached to one end of said string and to the rimof the pipe bowl, holding thereby when used one string end near said rim whilesaid string itself extends from said bowl rim tomthe bowl bottomandits free end lies coiled thereon.

EZ'EKIELJ. JACOB. 

